DEFINING ISLAMIC POWER AND AUTHORITY

By

Salim I. Hassan (Salimullah)

Education Department,

Bayero University Kano, Nigeria.

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Since the collapse of Islamic Caliphate, the fundamental INSTITUTION of Islamic polity was lost. From that time onward, there has been no any official active course to revive the global Islamic institution of Muslim polity. And this is due to our abandonment of Islamic quest for power and authority. While Muslims are substantially becoming larger in number and are becoming more attach to their act of Islamic rituals of worship, they are, at the same time, losing their power and authority � the two pillars without which Islam as a religion cannot be established on earth. Muslims and their religion are now controlled and sustained by Western Kufr power. This is utterly disgrace! It is now clear to all that Western powers are checking this noble religion; they set one group of Muslim or nation against another; they have been providing laws to govern our national and international affairs/relations at the expense of our religious ones. The dimension of Islamic power/authority has nowadays neglected or even completely lost due to the negligence of the modern Muslim leaders institutionalized by the Western colonialists. Islam is going shoulder by shoulder alongside its power and authority; however, the modern Muslims have sold out this power to the West while ritualizing Islam to be practiced only in the mosque as it was did in the case of Christianity. The relationship of Western Kuffar powers and the Muslim leaders is that of powerful predator and a weakest prey like hornless goat. We are subjected to their powers, authorities, systems, and laws regardless of our revealed polity. The prevailing condition of the Muslim states is totally disapproved islamically speaking. Islam does not accept disgrace, passivity, and or external hegemony. Which Islam has taught us to be a subject to external kuffar power? Did the prophet, peace be upon him, give the Islamic power to be controlled by the Quraysh? One of the problems affecting the faith of some brothers is that they believe to enjoy freedom of religion as far as they are allowed to pray, fast, and offer other Islamic rituals at their individual personality. For this reason, according to them, the West�s Kuffar are not enemies even though they deprive us of Shari�ah Ruling System which sustains the power and authority of this noble religion. Such people do not bother whether the Muslims are politically autonomous or not. Such people have ritualized Islam while denying its legitimacy of having an independent political power, autonomy and entity. What is the significant of our ritual worship when the power of this religion has been undermined and subjugated by the Kuffar power? Or what can you proud of this religion when its leaders are controlled by the Western kuffar powers? Did the prophet, upon him be peace, accept such an ignoble status (being passive) from the Quraysh Kuffar power? We all know that earlier Muslim generation, under the leadership of the prophet, upon him be peace, did not behave in such way. Hence, taking lesson from the prophet Seerah has become inevitable, otherwise to continue deviating from the prophet�s principal strategies for managing this religion alongside its power in this hostile world. Muslim leaders must be accused of this failure. The existence of UN�s security members without a single Muslim country is a clear sign of ultimate passivity and subjugation of Muslim power in the world.  In reality, Muslims have never enjoyed freedom of religion since they have been suppressed from Shari�ah Ruling System by the Western powers. They were denied Islamic leadership since the abolishment of the Caliphate; and many previous attempts to restore the Caliphate have failed. The present passivity of the Muslim countries entails that they are all powerless and inactive in the world�s decisions and policy-makings; they are only lackeys. The truth is that Western Kuffar power controls the Muslim world including their religion (Islam). The question is that: which Islam has approved for us to live this world in subordination to the enemies� power? For Muslim world to recognize any power/authority other than Islamic one is a �big innovation� imported into this religion. The aforementioned humiliating problems were due to our negligence of the political dimension of the Seerah which has been the fundamental process in establishing and retaining Islamic political power. It is only when this power is retained that Islam can be fully established on this earth. The prophet seerah is self-explanatory about this issue of establishing, retaining, and sustaining Islamic power and authority; however, modern Muslims continue to ignore this dimension of seerah consciously or otherwise.

So how can we come to assess Islamic power and authority; and how can we define Islamic power? In this attempt, we must have recourse in the prophet seerah as maintained by Dr. Kalim Siddiqui (1931-1996). It would be unfair to equate the nature of Islam in the prophet as well as his pious Caliph�s era with that Islam of modern day. While in the former case Islam is powerful and independent with minority people, in the later one it is powerless and subordinate with majority people; and in all cases they are incomparable. In defining Islamic power, many certain questions should be brought to the fore as such: what is the relationship of the earlier Muslims and the Kaffar of Mecca or the Jews of Madina? Are the Muslims subject to Quraysh, Jewish, Persian or Roman power of those times? How did the prophet, upon him be peace, deal with the Kuffar power in establishing Islamic autonomy and its political power? When Mecca was recaptured did the prophet, upon him be peace, or his pious Caliphs employ the Kuffar power to protect the state as it is in modern days? How did he deal with the Muslim prisoners in the hands of the Kuffar? How did he deal with Muslim land invaded by the Kuffar? If such and many other relevant questions are answered one would find that the present Muslim leaders are not acting sensibly, if not even to say islamically. They are, in fact, deviated from prophetic political strategies exhibited in number of occasions as he interacted with the earlier Kuffar power. Nowadays Muslim prisoners in the Kuffar lands were left untouchable by the so called Muslim leaders. Muslim countries are, too often, attacked and invaded unjustifiably. Violation of Muslim lives and properties is considered as security for the West; and the Muslim leaders, instead of reaction, they are backing the Western powers by signing mutual agreement to suppress Islamic power to be restored. The few resistant Jihadist groups are considered terrorists even by the leaders of the greatest land of Islam who controls and manipulate the �Fatwas� of their bribed scholars. Most of the Muslim nation-states, created by Western Kuffar colonialists, have intentionally waned to restore Islamic power while accusing the few Jihadists groups who confess to undertake the mission. Even the less violent Muslim groups have been persecuted and tortured by their secular nation-state government, kingdom or regime in various countries, e.g. Muslim brotherhood of Egypt is a one the too often deprived and persecuted Muslim organizations.

Is there any power for this noble religion? To claim power for this religion just for it merely gets more and more converts or that for it is having the largest followers, is highly ridiculous. Despite of our majority we cannot implement a single law or policy freely even for our people. So how the situation would be if to say that Muslims have made a new law/policy to be abided by the entire world? This is highly impossible in this sad state of the Muslims!  Nevertheless it sounds very plausible they cannot make it while they are in this ignoble position of passivity and hegemony. Let us go directly to appeal to the seeratical (connected to prophet Seerah) process as what does Islamic power/authority entails?

Defining Islamic power

Islamic power is unique in respect of its principle, foundation and polity; it does not solely rely upon a particular institution as in the case of modern secularist political powers. Islamic power can be perceived in two distinct but relevant perspectives:  spiritual and physical/political. Spiritual power of Islam lays in the individual minds. The primary basis of this power is a belief and faith in Allah, the Most High, and his messenger, peace be upon him; and that the basic institution of this power is the individual mind and soul. Having a glance to the Seerah we shall find that throughout the 13yrs of the Prophet, peace be upon him, in Mecca, the Muslims were sustained by this type of spiritual power; and that such Islamic spiritual power had been drastically affecting the Quraysh kuffar power earlier than the institution of Islamic state could come to be. Islamic power from this angle can grow, prosper and thrive with or without any worldly institution of political authority even in the most hostile world as the one we live in today. No institution or government is necessary for retaining and sustaining this power; only God has this divine authority, but ours is to work with reality, to admonish, instruct, imbibe and encourage the individual believers in the name of Islam. No military might can suppress this power and nor any media propaganda can distort its image. This power still is felt preponderantly all over the world; it goes side by side with the divine force, and not with the force of money or military power of the Muslim countries. With this powerful divine force, it penetrates every nook and crannies of the Kuffar countries despite of intellectual, economical and military aggression by the West. The point worthy to note is that modern Muslim leaders have nothing to claim in establishing and sustaining this type of power; only God does the work, and this is the reason why Islam in this respect, is still superpower and preponderant, and that it still remains even in the absence of Islamic institutional authority of Caliphate and state. Institutional authority for sustaining Islamic power is not the primary basis; it is only secondary in realizing it in physical political life (and this is exactly what we aim to attain in this modern inimical world).

The secularist political powers lack this aspect of spirituality of power because the primary foundation of their power have been attached solely to their mortal political institutions, and once this institution (s) were abolished, it marks the end of their power and would never rise again. By thinking of the collapse of Roman power and the recent collapse of Soviet power you will inevitably confirm this truth. Had it been in the same nature with such secularist powers (i.e. sole reliance on institution) the Islamic power would have completely eliminated with the abolition of Islamic institution of Caliphate and would have never rise again. But, despite the abolition of the Caliphate as an Islamic institution of leadership, Islam has yet, remained the most powerful challenge against the Western enemies and their secular systems.

Nowadays, Muslim leaders should not be wasting most of their wealth and energy in this part of sustaining spiritual power of Islam; God has already taken it unto himself. Some lackeys, among the Muslim leaders, confine all of their physical and financial effort in fueling the sad state of �sectarianism� among the Muslim Ummah, too often alleging pretentiously, that they are fulfilling the task of Da�awah. Is Da�awah important in this present sad state when Muslims have been persecuted and killed all over the world and their lands have been gradually invaded by the Kuffar powers? I think some people are acting insensibly. Any struggle or movement by the Muslim leaders must give priority to the mission of emancipating Islam and the Muslim land from the persecution, subjugation and hegemony of the Western enemies� power if there has been a true sincerity in their intention. This requires us to the establishment of independent physical power of Islam. This is the most important task ahead of us in this modern inimical world dominated and controlled by the enemies� power. This is where we have come to the second perspective of Islamic power: and it is the physical/political power.

Physical power is any physical institutional authority that usher independent order and laws for a particular community of people. When it comes to this issue of physical power, Islam, despite of its preponderant followers, is drastically lagged behind secularism. It is true to say that secularism as a man-made system of life (presumably a new man-made religion) has a number of powerful institutions such as UN, NATO, IAEA and ICC alike, and many more institutions were known to have been authoritatively established to propagate and protect secularism meanwhile to abolish Islam as well. However, Islam has no such institution of authority with its true independent power. Ironically, the most distinguished Muslim countries are also members in those secularist institutions which are aimed to propagate Kufr and to abolish Islam. Too sadly, such Muslim country participants in those secularist institutions are not active members; they are only lackeys and puppets to the extent that they can never enjoy a shred of right to pass a new policy of law even when this is in favour of secularism. What a sad state of the Muslims! Is it possible to emancipate Islam and the Muslim values without having our independent institutions of authority? It is even more than impossible; and it is a kind of insensibility to believe as such. Sayyed Qutb, in his Milestone, has alluded to this truth: �This Jahiliyyah (secularism) is not an abstract theory; in fact, under certain circumstances it has no theory at all. It always takes the form of a living movement in a society which has its own leadership, its own concepts and values, and its own traditions, habits and feelings. It is an organized society and there is a close cooperation and loyalty between its individuals and it is always ready and alive to defend its existence consciously or unconsciously. It crushes all elements which seem to be dangerous to its personality. When Jahiliyyah (secularism) takes the form, not of a 'theory' but of an active movement in this fashion, then any attempt to abolish this Jahiliyyah (secularism) and to bring people back to God which presents Islam merely as a theory will be undesirable, rather useless��When the purpose is to abolish the existing system and to replace it with a new system which in its character' principles and all its general and particular aspects, is different from the controlling jahili (secularist) system, then it stands to reason that this new system should also come into the battlefield as an organized movement and a viable group�. (Bracketed italics are mine). In this brief quoted passage, Sayyed Qutb, like any other insightful Islamic ideologue, have noticed that any struggle or movement to restore the Islamic physical independent power cannot be attained devoid of establishing active and authoritative institutions. Hence, the need arises of Muslim detachment from United Nations and the establishment of Islamic United Nations for the purpose of sustaining, authorizing and defending Islamic polity and the Muslim values and needs. Many more international institutions should also be set up independently for the Muslims in particular and for their relations with non-muslim nations by extension. The most important among these institutions apart from the IUN include: Central Muslim super government (i.e. the Caliphate), Islamic International Defence Force (IIDF), Islamic International Supreme Court (IISC), and many more others in relation to Economy, Health and e.t.c. In my unpublished book, �The Message to the Contemporary Muslim World� I have gone into details on such aforementioned ideas largely substantiated by some Qur�an verses.     

Unfortunately, Muslim leaders who wield power in our respective countries have deliberately close this page for the quest of Islamic independent political power in the world. They continue to ignore the dimension of the prophet Seerah in the quest of power and authority. The seeratic political strategies (particularly in relation to kuffar power) adopted by the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his pious companions as well, have been greatly undermined and betrayed by modern Muslim leaders; while the former, through all means of political and military strategies, had tried continuously to retain their independent power of Islam the latter have sold out this power to the West in exchange for secular power, systems and laws. Thus, some have imported secular democracy to their countries meanwhile some proceeds with their authoritarian monarchy, and in all cases, they deviating from Shari�ah Ruling Systems of Allah.

This type of power termed as physical power is the one which was founded in Madina as the Muslims owned the state. Thus, in Madina Muslims afforded a power base. It was not only when this power was attained that the Muslims emancipated themselves from the persecution, subjugation and hegemony of the Quraysh kuffar power. With this power also, the Muslims in Madina continue to defend Islam and the Muslim values and needs. By that time, they become able to attack and to deter the enemies� attack. This is the fundamental aspect which the modern Muslims lost. The most sad thing is that nowadays there has been no a single Muslim country that can suppress external attack by its West�s enemies. Over and again, the leaders of those Muslim nation-states either consciously or unconsciously fail to perceive that the Western super powers are their enemies aiming to eliminate Islam and to invade the Muslim lands. A baby who does not know the evil of hyena how can he run away from it? This is the parable of the modern Muslim leaders as they interact with their Western lords. If we are sincere to recourse to Seerah to derive pure political vision from it and to apply it in our socio-political life we shall inevitably come to construct a powerful, bold and bright future for the Muslims in this inimical world. But the problem is that, as Dr. Kalim Siddiqui proclaimed, the Muslims have continued to ignore the political dimension of the prophet Seerah. The present leaders of the Muslim nation-state could not for moment support any movement for the restoration of Islamic political power in this world. Only those petty groups of Muslim intellectuals and political activist can one day attain this noble goal. Let us go ahead despite of difficulties, obstacles and oppositions from both our internal hypocrites and external enemies. We should never give even at the risk of our life.   

In conclusion, in so far, we have noted that the current nature of the struggle of propagating �sectarianism�, albeit in the name of Da�awah, among the Muslims which has been given most prestige by the Muslim leaders is undesirable and it does not deserve this ultimate priority at the expense of the struggle of emancipating Islam and the Muslims from the hegemony and subjugation of the West�s enemies. Unless our leaders resort to alternate policy they shall continue to deteriorate the prestige of Islam. As the prophet, peace be upon him, had practiced all possible strategies in establishing Islamic physical/political power we must too, need to employ all possible modern strategies to restore this political power of Islam. There is indeed, urgent need to establish independent institutions for the promotion of Islamic rules, norms, systems and laws all over the Muslim worlds in the name of Islamic international unity and solidarity. One should not be preoccupied with the so called Arab League and OIC alike; these and many other organizations proclaiming Islamic purpose were not essentially created for the basic purpose that have been echoed throughout this article. And finally, the most important step to begin with, is the establishment of Islamic United Nations for the global solidarity, polity, security and unity of the Muslim Ummah. Muslims should withdraw from UN to join this great institution. Before this is possible, there must be a general consensus and convergence among the various Muslim countries. And this can be achieved by urgent call to World Islamic Shura Organization (WISO). I think if Iran wills, it can accommodate and sponsor this call, and if not let any other interesting Muslim country to summon this unique conference of WISO with true sincerity. How global Muslim unity could be achieved; How to produce the summit of Muslim nations� withdrawal from UN; and how to establish the IUN will be the nub of the WISO conference. The ultimate implication of the process is that an Independent institution with its peculiar power without external intervention will inevitably come to be for the Muslim Ummah; and that they will live independently both in laws and politics. And any inter-relation between Muslim and non-Muslim countries pertaining to global trade, economy and security will only be done amicably and positively without subjugation of either party. It is just like to say: Do your religion (secularism) and I will do mine (Islam); neither violation and nor subjugation of either�s principle, interest, laws and systems.

MAY ALLAH GRANT US WITH LEADERS WITH PURE ISLAMIC VISION AND HOPE.